Why write music theory and publish it? In the thesis I investigate the reasons for a seeming over-abundance of practically oriented music treatises in early seventeenth-century Italy. Throughout I challenge our conventional assessment of the study of music theory: I suggest that we can define a music-theoretical text in terms of its material form in addition to its content. Adriano Banchieri (1568-1634) was the most prolific theorist in early seventeenth-century Italy. His music-theory books exemplify contemporary printing patterns, an overt practical focus, and a synthesis of contemporary theoretical innovations. In Chapter 1, after considering the meaning of 'music theory' and how it is typically classified, I discuss the process of and purposes for writing and publishing music theory. In Chapter 2 I explore Banchieri's practical and philosophical motives for writing music theory, and thus introduce the reader to his music-theoretical corpus. The focus of the thesis then broadens: in Chapter 3 I survey the typical authors, publishing houses, content, material form, function and readers of the various kinds of theoretical texts printed in Italy between 1600 and 1630. In Chapter 4 I examine the widespread practice of publishing second and revised editions of music-theory books in order to establish the extent to which a new edition corresponds to a seeming demand for a particular text. The case study of the paratext of Banchieri's Conclusiones de musica (Bologna, 1627) in Chapter 5 demonstrates the great extent to which the preliminary matter of an early Seicento music-theory book is embedded in its socio-cultural context and how a paratext projects ideas contained in the text proper. Lastly, in Chapter 6 I explore to whom and in which particular forums theoretical writings circulated. Here I focus principally on Banchieri's printed letters, which provide evidence of how an author circulated his music books.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:664801 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Ballantyne, Abigail L. |
| Contributors | Rees, Owen; Blackburn, Bonnie J. |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5567c6ab-360c-47da-8b82-d7f1d4a4d4d7 |
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